1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to stringed instruments with frets in which at least some of the frets can be moved into and out of their operative positions during play.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Frets in general have been employed in stringed instruments, such as for example the bass guitar, to allow the musician to easily find the correct finger placement for each tone, resulting in the tone being in "tune".
Removable fret systems in general have pertained to replacement of the frets, such as in Keefer's instrument (U.S. Pat. No. 3,273,439), when they were worn or damaged; or to allow change of tonal scales as in Stoner's instrument (U.S. Pat. No. 4,132,143) such as for example changing the scale from equal tempered to just intonation.
Dunlap's instrument (U.S. Pat. No. 3,894,468) allows "slides" to be performed by the fret moving with the fingers. In this arrangement the fret is not actually movable out of play, but changes location on the neck of the instrument. Also of interest is U.S. Pat. No. 3,469,489.
The purpose of the bassist's slides on the bass is to create an enhanced musical effect, such as a crescendo, etc. Although there is available exclusively fretless basses, the musician loses the impeccability of the musical notes of a fretboard guitar. Hence the musician is more susceptible to play in between notes on the fretless "fretboard," causing him to play out of tune with the actual music.
A conventional electric bass has 20 frets on a graduated distance scale. When slides can be performed on a conventional bass, the volume of the slide is attenuated due to the presence of the protruding frets. Indeed, by the time the finger has past ten frets, the volume of the slide is reduced to about a quarter or less than the initiating note of the slide.
The present invention, as disclosed herein, provides the advantages of both types of basses, allowing slides without attenuation and regular guitar play without loss of the tonal guitar neck, and its musical characteristics. This gives the musician the capacity to choose during play between fret and fretless bass to allow the utmost musical flexibility. As a result, the invention serves in its preferred embodiment as a doubly versatile instrument for the employment of playing as an electric bass guitar.